The City of Federal Way hosted an Open House last week for community members to learn more about the future development of downtown.

In the center of the room, a 16-by-16 vinyl map of Federal Way was placed at the Performing Arts & Event Center. Attendees were able to walk on the detailed map, pointing out their homes or businesses, and easily showed others the area of the city they believe needs the most attention.

“Some people may have not seen an aerial photograph of their city before,” said Chaney Skadsen, senior planner for the City of Federal Way. “A major benefit of the map was allowing people to have open conversations about places in the city and being able to go point it out exactly where we were talking about on the map.”

The map allowed for a bird’s eye view of Federal Way as a whole, and people could literally see how the city is connected. This helped take the conversations about growth and a person’s own neighborhood a step further in being able to see the big picture, she said.

An idea replicated from a California city, the map is now on display in the Development Center at Federal Way City Hall.

The city’s push for more conversations and decisions about downtown development is motivated by the in-progress Sound Transit Federal Way Link Extension route. The station and its services are expected to begin seeing passengers in 2024.

In addition, the city’s Comprehensive Plan — which was last adopted in 2015 — is being updated now through June 2024, The Comprehensive Plan is the city’s map for the future and provides the goals, policies, and actions that are intended to guide the day-to-day decisions of elected officials and staff for the next two decades.

At the March 24 open house, information was available on city demographics, growth strategies, transportation, and community assets.

Several stations sought community feedback, surveying how people have fun in Federal Way, asking which types of residential or office buildings they’d like to see in the city and ranking the importance of factors such as walkability.

To provide feedback about the city’s development, the public can visit www.engagefw.com.

Community members examine a 16×16 map of Federal Way at the Performing Arts & Event Center in Federal Way. Photo courtesy of Bruce Honda